I was Yesterday about Sun-set walking in the open Fields, 'till the Night insensibly fell upon me. I at first amused my self with all the Richness and Variety of Colours, which appeared in the Western Parts of Heaven: In Proportion as they faded away and went out, several Stars and Planets appeared one after another 'till the whole Firmament was in a Glow. The Blewness of the
Æther
was exceedingly heightened and enlivened by the Season of the Year, and by the Rays of all those Luminaries that passed through it. The
Galaxy
appeared in its most beautiful White. To compleat the Scene, the full Moon rose at length in that clouded Majesty, which
Milton
takes Notice of, and opened to the Eye a new Picture of Nature, which was more finely shaded, and disposed among softer Lights than that which the Sun had before discovered to us.
As I was surveying the Moon walking in her Brightness and taking her Progress among the Constellations, a Thought rose in me which I believe very often perplexes and disturbs Men of serious and contemplative Natures.
David
himself fell into it in that Reflection,